Pink Caravan steps up drive to keep breast cancer at bay
Pink Caravan furthers nationwide movement to safeguard women against breast cancer; renews community call for screenings
Pink Caravan, the breast cancer awareness initiative of the Uae-based non-profit, Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), has called upon women who previously underwent mammogram screenings at clinics during their annual Uae-wide breast cancer awareness campaign in 2019, to get themselves tested again at the Pink Caravan Medical Mobile Clinic, located at the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) in Sharjah.
The clinic has been conducting follow-up tests since January 2021, and 100 women out of 661 have been tested so far.
The follow-up tests are mandated under the National Guidelines for Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis, which stipulate that women aged 40-69 years should undergo mammogram screening every two years.
Pink Caravan Medical Mobile Clinic conducts free breast cancer screenings across the seven emirates of the UAE, while raising awareness on the importance of early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer, its prevention and risk factors.
The Pink Caravan Medical Mobile Clinic follows the mandatory health safety guidelines in place in the UAE to keep the patients safe by cleaning and sterilizing all diagnostic machines ater each patient visit and maintaining a strict safe distancing policy.
Calling on organisations and individuals in the UAE to generously support the Pink Caravan Ride’s awareness, early detection and treatment programmes, Dr Sawsan Al Madhi, Director General of FOCP and Head of the PCR Medical and Awareness Commitee, said: “Over the last 11 years the Pink Caravan Ride, which emphasises on early detection of breast cancer through integrated awareness initiatives and screening, has shown very encouraging results.”, noting that early detection and improving risk factor awareness are imperative to saving lives.
Al Madhi called on all women in the UAE to undergo mammogram screenings. “As the leading cancer-specific charity in the UAE, FOCP has been at the forefront of raising cancer awareness amongst the UAE community,” she added.
One of the many Pink Caravan beneficiaries, Mrs Thana, lauded the Pink Caravan’s thorough breast checkup protocols and timely follow-ups offered by the initiative’s staff. “Be it during my mammogram screenings or the PET CT scans, which takes a more targeted approach to detecting the presence and location of cancers, the staff at the Pink Caravan Mobile Medical Clinic were extremely professional and caring.”
A few outcrops were detected in Thana’s right breast. “I received a call from the PC staff to go in for a follow-up test. A scan which tested the breast accurately and from all sides was employed to ensure that I was cancer free,” she added emphasising that the joy and peace of mind that the exercise brought her, which she undertook for the first time in her life, was reason for her to continue these checkups on a regular basis.
Thana thanked Pink Caravan for their dedicated efforts to raise women’s awareness of breast cancer, and called on women in the UAE to go in for regular checkups even if they did not notice any symptoms.
Donations to FOCP can be made via credit card, Paypal, bank transfers and cheques. Amounts as low AED 5 and up to Dhs500 can be donated by via SMS. Direct fund transfers can be made to Pink Caravan’s Sharjah Islamic Bank account. You can even arrange for a collection by calling +971 6 506 5542; sending an email to info@focp.ae; or via the website www.focp.ae. All donations go directly and in full to funding the awareness and screening drives.
Last year, Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi, Chairman, Department of Government Relations, DGR — Sharjah, was conferred with the title of Special Envoy of the Pink Caravan Ride by Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of the Ruler of Sharjah and Founder and Royal Patron of Friends of Cancer Patients FOCP, according to WAM.
Hailing the efforts of the Pink Caravan Ride over the past nine years in bringing the UAE community together and galvanising their efforts to create breast cancer awareness, Sheikh Fahim had remarked, “I am honoured and delighted in equal measure to be entrusted with responsibility as significant as this. Pink Caravan Ride is a best-practice model for not just the region, but the world.”